Toy crib



March 20, 1956 H. KESLER TOY CRIB Filed Jan. 15, 1952 United States Patent TOY CRIB Herman Kesler, Philadelphia, Pa. Application January 15,.1952,,Serial No. .266,528

1 Claim. (.Cl. -100) My invention relates to a toy for children and relates particularly to a toy crib wherein children may place their dolls to sleep.

It. is well known that children .love .to imitate grown-ups, and that dolls are favorite toys .of-girls. .Cribs for real babies .are well known. However, the utilization of a play crib for .dollies wherein a slide guard may be easily manipulated by the children and readilyassembled .by the parents was not known before my invention.

It, therefore, is an object of my invention to provide a play crib for dolls which simulates a crib used for infants.

Another object of my invention is to provide ,a crib for dolls Which-may be shipped in a'knock-downcondition and which may be easily and quickly assembled'by persons who do not possess great mechanical skill.

Another object of my invention is 'to provide a .play crib which'may be easily operated by achild to simulate a crib'used for infants.

Another object of my invention is 'ito .provide .ina crib a slidable safety gate'which is easily and safely operated by the child.

Another object --of my invention is to provide a play crib wherein the mattress support may be inserted and supported without the addition of any extra parts.

Other objects of my invention are to provide an improved device of the character described, that is easily and economically produced, which is sturdy in construction, and which is highly effective in operation.

With the above and related objects in view, my invention consists in the details of construction and combination of parts, as will be more fully understood from the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a crib utilizing my invention, the dotted lines showing the safety gate in an up position.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the safety gate holding clamp and part of the safety gate.

Fig. 3 is another View partly in section showing the safety gate holding clamp in a position whereby the gate may be slipped along the rod to move the safety gate.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the crib leg taken along the line 44 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the positioning of a picket in a picket support bar.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary side view showing the mattress support mounted upon one of the supporting hooks.

Fig. 7 is a top view of the castor wheel supporting cup.

Referring now in detail to the drawing wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts, I show a play crib for dolls comprising a front and a back of identical construction, each unit being generally designated as A, wherein the front and back units have supporting legs 10, 12 mounted upon ground engaging swivel wheels 14.

Each unit A includes an inverted rolled square rod wherein the vertical legs 10, 12 engage the edges of a with respect "to the back 2,738,522 Patented Mar. ,20, 195.6

2 sheet metal panel 18. The abutting edges 15, 17 of the legs 10, '12 tend to press against the panel 18 thereby holding the panel 18 in afriction like grasp. The bolding'bdlts 26 which pass through the rod tend to mechanically compress .the abutting .edges 15, 17 against the panel so that 'both a frictional .force and .a mechanical force holds the edges 15, 17 ,of the rolled bar against the panel. The front and back units support a horizontally extended mattress support, generally designated as B, upon which a mattress (not shown) or bedding may be supported. A fixed side panel, generally designated as C, is securely attached to one side of the legs of the front and back units A, A. A safety panel or safety gate, generally designated as D, is adapted to .slide vertically up or down whereby a doll maybe easily tucked away in its crib by the children at play.

The vertical extending .legs 10 and 12 on the front or back A, are made .of rolled sheet steel formed as a square section forpurposes of strength-and the legs 10, 12 are joined by an integral section 16 which extends horizontallyas the top of the front or back.

The sheet plate 18 is made part of the front A and carries connecting bolts 19 .for the mattress support B. The plate may extend close to the swiveled casters '14 and may carry decalcomanias thereon.

The side picket panel C comprisinghorizontal rails 20, 20 are jo'ined to vertically extending rails or pickets 22. The "horizontal rails 20 being of rolled sheet steel have abutting edges 21B, 20C WhiCh'PICSS against the pickets 22 to keep the pickets in place without the use of any additional holding member. The side panel C is bolted to the front A and the back A by means of brackets'24 and ,holdingbolts 26.

The slideable safety gate D rides upon two vertically extending guide rods 28, 28. One of the guide .rods 28 upon which the slideable gate .D is mounted .is aligned unit A by a pair of L-shaped brackets 32, 34. The upper bracket 32 is held against the leg 10 by a bolt and nut assembly 34A and the lower bracket 34 is welded to the leg 10.

The upper end of the guide rod 28 is held to the bracket 32 by a pair of ornamental nuts 36, 37 while the lower end of the rail rests freely in an opening in the bracket 34.

The second guide rod 28 is mounted upon the leg 10 of the back A.

Within the upper horizontal square rail 2A of the movable gate D is a U-shaped holding spring, generally designated as E. Two springs to hold the safety gate are used. The spring E is adapted to be easily operated by a child and must be sturdy enough to hold the safety gate D in any position to which the child moves the movable gate D. The spring E also must be easily inserted within the opening at the end of the rail 20A.

The U-shaped holding spring E comprises a stamped out sheet steel unit having an opening 40 in one leg 44 and an opening 42 in the other leg 46. The legs 44, 46 of the spring E are diverging at their free ends although connected together at their other end.

The vertically disposed guide rods 23 extend through the openings 40 and 42 in each holding spring E, and the legs 44, 46 are normally diverging in such a position that the walls of the openings 40 and 42 bind on the guide rod 28 to hold the drop gate in a frictionally locked position.

A guide tongue 54 telescopes into an opening 56 in the rail 20A and the pressing tip or end 52 of the leg 44 of the spring E extends above the horizontally extending leg 44. Hence, the pressing tip lies above the upper surface of the top rail 20A. An aligning guide 50 stamped from the leg 44 pierces an opening in the upper surface of the top rail 20A in order to keep the holding spring E in alignment.

The lower rail 20B of the gate D is adapted to rest upon a spring 38 which encircles the guide rod 28 and rests upon the bracket 34. A second U-shaped holding spring E engages the second guide rod 28.

When both of the presser tips 52 on the two springs E are pressed down as shown in Fig. 3 the safety gate D may be slid up or down and when the tips 52, 52 are released the guide rods 28 are grasped by the arms 44, 46 thereby holding the safety rail in position.

The caster 14 is supported upon a U-shaped member that is fastened to a cup 14A. The cup 14A has one side 14B spread so that the side 14B may be compressed to complete a force fit against the end of the leg 10. The frictional engagement of the cup 14A with the end of the rail permits easy assembling of the caster with the leg 10 and prevents the caster wheel from slipping from its engagement with the leg during the time the crib is rolled from one place to another place.

In Fig. 6 I show a mattress support B wherein a bracket or hook 58 is welded to the mattress support and a complementary hook 58A is welded to the leg 10. In this manner the hooks 58, 58A interlock and support the mattress support B without the use of any screws or bolts. After the front, back and side panels are assembled the mattress support B is laid upon the complementary hooks 58A where the support is properly anchored.

With the parts shipped and packaged in a knock-down condition, the crib may be assembled by a non-skilled person with the aid of a pair of pliers and a screw driver.

The crib may be used and operated as a toy by children since the safety gate D may be moved up and down simply by releasing the spring E from grasping its guide rails 28, 28.

In play, the children can raise or lower the safety gate to put their dollies to bed, just as grown-ups care for their infants.

Although my invention has been described in considerable detail, such description is intended as being illustrative rather than limiting, since the invention may be variously embodied, and the scope of the invention is to be determined as claimed. I claim as my invention:

In a toy crib having a drop gate slidable upon a pair of vertically disposed guide rods, a horizontal hollow upper rail on the drop gate and a holding spring inserted in each end of said hollow upper rail, each of said holding springs comprising a single U-shaped stamping having diverging upper and lower legs resiliently extending from a closed end, an aligning guide punched from said upper diverging leg adjacent its closed end, said aligning guide projecting upwardly through an opening in said hollow upper rail, a right angle tongue bent from the free end of said upper diverging leg and outwardly extending therefrom through a second opening in said hollow upper rail, and a pressing tip integrally formed on said tongue, each of said legs having an opening therein through which one of the vertically disposed guide rods extends, said legs normally diverging in such a position that the walls of the openings bind on the guide rod and frictionally lock the drop gate thereon, the end of the lower leg of each holding spring abutting an interior wall of said horizontal upper rail whereby the drop gate is adapted to be slidably released when said pressing tips are pressed downwardly to urge said legs into a position parallel to one another.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 508,240 Records Nov. 7, 1893 1,231,675 Vallone July 3, 1917 1,296,569 Takacs Mar. 4, 1919 1,505,220 Shay Aug. 19, 1924 1,639,847 Greenman Aug. 23, 1927 1,829,366 Mittleburg Oct. 27, 1931 1,895,885 Kusterle Jan. 31, 1933 1,900,478 Zimmerman Mar. 7, 1933 1,907,298 Kroll May 2, 1933 2,106,657 Raduns Jan. 25, 1938 2,514,668 Neunherz July 11, 1950 

